Keep Evolving - Episode 3: Paradise Lot, #8

By R.E. Vance

Keep Evolving - Episode 3 ...

It seems that the gang accidentally released an ancient Assyrian apocalypse. There are seven to herald its arrival and four have gone by already. All Jean-Luc has to do is stop the other signs ... but how do you stop the sky from raining frogs?

The gods are gone. All of them.

Since they left, mythical creatures of all shapes and sizes have been forced to Earth as refugees dependent on the goodwill of humans. Trouble is most humans don't have much goodwill ... 

Then there's Jean-Luc, a struggling hotelier who promised to help these wayward 'Others' live in this new GoneGod world. It's a promise that just might get him killed. In the past year alone, his hotel was blown up, his best friend - a drunk fallen angel - picked a fight with an Other hating gang and, oh yeah, the world almost ended (again). 

But things are finally starting to look-up for Jean-Luc. He’s dating Medusa, most Others respect him and his new hotel has just been booked for the biggest event of the century. Sadly his good fortune takes a turn for the worse when his guests accidentally set off the apocalypse. 

It seems that when the gods departed, they left behind their WMDs: Weapons of Mass Destruction—or rather, ATDs: Apocalypses of Total Destruction. 

Now Jean-Luc is forced to face-off against Ragnarok, Revelations and a creature he’s pretty sure is the Kraken. 

All in a day’s work in Paradise Lot. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: R.E. Vance
• Release date: Aug 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781536589665

Book preview

Prologue

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Ten Years Later—

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Astarte sits on her throne.

Before her there are entwined bodies pulsating with the rush of passion. Gods and humans, Others and mortals are equal in Astarte’s temple; for equality can be measured by ambition, and everyone here has but one: pleasure.

Their ambition is fulfilled. This much is made obvious by the smells of sweat and lust that overpower the temple.

Astarte ignores the carnage of pleasure around her. Usually she would be leading the festivities, but today her mind is elsewhere, distracted by memories of lovers past.

She shakes her head. It is not like her to think of before when now is so tantalizing. She needs to do something special to bring her mind to the present. Extra spice for her lustful endeavors.

As if the First Laws of Nature and Chaos hear her, an attendant approaches with news of visitors. It seems the three gorgon sisters stand at the temple door.

Mmmm, gorgons ... with all those appendages ... This will be a wonderful night, indeed.

Astarte claps her hands in three rapid successions and her attendants begin the preparations for an exquisite orgy.

Rising from her throne, she goes to the temple gates to greet her visitors.

↔

Medusa slithers into the temple with her two sisters, Stheno and Euryale, and from the fury in their eyes, Astarte knows why they are here. Jealousy. This is the second most common reason why people come.

The first is desire.

They are here because one of them has a lover visiting Astarte’s temple without them. From the rage in her eyes, Astarte knows that it is Medusa who was wronged. And her anger is focused on Astarte. The problem is, Astarte has been with so many humans, Others and gods, that she doesn’t know who they are jealous of. Nor does she care. She will deal with them as she has dealt with so many—by turning their anger into desire ...

You. Medusa points at Astarte. The succubus prepares for the usual tirade of You thief, you whore, how dare you tempt him, how dare you take him away from me. But the gorgon says none of those things. Instead she hisses, He doesn’t love you.

He loves her, says Stheno, Medusa’s eldest sister.

He has always loved her, hisses Euryale.

Love? What does love have to do with a place like this? For reasons that Astarte cannot place, her mind immediately goes to Gilgamesh. It has been ten years since the young king left her temple, and in that time no amount of exquisite, multiple and crescendo-reaching orgasms have erased the memory of him. She hears that his kingdom is growing. She also hears that although he reigns over the most enlightened kingdom ever devised, he is a cruel, petty man, treating all those who oppose him with brutal finality.

Medusa’s snakes hiss in unison as she repeats, He doesn’t love you. He loves me. Me! You’re an interim wife to be used and disposed of. Nothing more. He’ll come back to me, you’ll see. And when I’m elevated to godhood, I’ll devote all my time and power to destroying you.

Oh, Astarte thinks, this is about Poseidon. No need for that, the succubus says. Have him.

The gorgon’s eyes narrow in confusion as several of her snakes turn their heads to see her reaction. Before she can say anything, Astarte speaks. I don’t want him. Never did, and based on the company he keeps, I doubt I ever will. So please, take him. She lets the words sink in before offering her final blow. If, that is, he’ll have you.

Medusa’s face turns red with rage, then green with envy as she screams so loud that the temple shakes under her power. Gorgons are not to be taken lightly. If they had the mind for it, they could turn Astarte and everyone else in the temple into stone. Astarte is fairly confident that she will not do so. After all, it would displease Poseidon.

But Astarte is only fairly confident, so she turns her gaze to the ground. Seeing her fear, Medusa’s lips curl upward. You’re right, she says. He doesn’t want me now. But that will change. You’ll see. Come, sisters ... let’s leave this loveless shell to her pathetic followers.

Astarte watches as the three gorgons leave. This is yet another example of how love blinds you, she thinks, before her mind returns to Gilgamesh. 

↔

Uruk is a great city. Magnificent ziggurats accentuate the city streets; temple towers reach for the clouds as if they are little hands trying to catch smoke. The city is protected by the highest and strongest wall the world has ever known, while the orchards and fields that surround the wall pronounce the peace and the goodwill other kingdoms have toward them.

But that is not what makes the city great.

Uruk is great for much less tangible and progressive reasons. Agriculture is sustained through the regular crop rotations to ensure that the land is always fertile. Gaming is regulated so that the animals have time to replenish their populations. The streets are kept clean to prevent the spread of disease. Trade is carefully monitored to avoid monopolies.

It is said that Uruk is impervious to drought or famine, that neither disease nor war can shake its foundation. It is the closest thing the humans have to immortality; as long as the gods leave the Kingdom of Uruk to its ways, it shall last forever.

Its secret is education. The Uruk schools and universities have amassed all the knowledge the human world has to offer, and they impart that knowledge to all the artisans and philosophers, teachers and doctors that pass through their halls. The best and the brightest are cultivated here, and once matured, they use their knowledge for the betterment of the city. 

There is no doubt that this kingdom is the greatest the mortal world has ever seen.

At the heart of it: Gilgamesh, Uruk’s wise ruler.

But wisdom does not mean benevolence, and Gilgamesh is feared by his people. His quest for knowledge carries with it the burden of a cold and unreasonable justice.

Astarte walks into the gated city. She sees mortals going about their daily life with downtrodden eyes. They are constantly moving, lest they draw the attention of Gilgamesh’s elite guard.

Astarte feels guilt over these people’s suffering. If only she had not tortured Gilgamesh so, perhaps he would have done what he has done with peace in his heart.

She walks along the city’s pristine streets and is drawn to a small back alleyway, where several men and women are burning incense and praying. They are praying to her sister, begging Atargatis to save them from Gilgamesh. This is dangerous. There is a chance her sister will hear. After all, if Astarte was drawn to them, her sister will be too.

Atargatis does not come. It is Gilgamesh’s feared guards that enter. Seeing the icons and smelling the incense, they act swiftly and without mercy, cutting down every one of the zealots without so much as a thought.

This is bad, Astarte knows, for to spill blood on sacred ground is to ensure the gods will hear you, and Astarte knows that her sister will answer their prayers.

Gilgamesh has never been in greater danger than he is now.

↔

Astarte wonders if she should help the wayward king. After all, his own people prayed for his death. Perhaps she should remain neutral. But she hasn’t so far, has she? Was it not her cruelty that made him the monster he is today? Perhaps, if she had not been who she is, she could have guided the king, helped him become something more, something good.

Astarte does not know what to do. It has been so many years since she has seen him. Maybe she does not desire the man, but rather the memory of the man. She must know. Reaching into the well of unlimited magic, Astarte summons Gilgamesh. It takes several minutes, but in the distance Astarte can hear a horse-drawn carriage approach.

They are speeding towards the city center. Astarte turns herself into a little girl and stands in the road. The horses nearly trample her as they pass. A voice from within the carriage calls for a halt. Astarte watches as the door swings out, and from it emerges Gilgamesh. But he is not the doe-eyed, naïve boy Astarte once knew and loved, but rather a man with premature crow’s feet at the corners of his eyes and deep thought wrinkles across his brow. Although he is older, he is not old. This man, this king, stands stronger than ever.

Astarte will never admit this, not even to herself, but seeing her former lover causes her heart to stand still, if only for a moment.

He reaches his hand to the little girl, not knowing that she is